“…A succinct and theoretically grounded definition of reform‐minding science teacher identity is “the ways in which a teacher represents herself through her views, orientations, attitudes, emotions, understandings, and knowledge and beliefs about science teaching and learning (Avraamidou, , p. 826). This supports our standpoint and we add that informal science experiences provide teacher candidates with opportunities to facilitate hands‐on experiences with diverse audiences while developing student‐centered dispositions, sensitivities to diversity, and positive attitudes about STEM teaching and learning, all of which contribute to a reform‐minded science teacher identity (Gupta & Adams, ). A framework of identity allows us to think beyond what is learned and to focus on the learner as situated in the contexts within which she learns (Beauchamp & Thomas, ).…”
Section: Theoretical Framingsupporting
confidence: 80%
“…As articulated in earlier studies (Gupta & Adams, ), the theme of learning from working with diverse learners resonated with the candidates managing the carts in on the museum floor: During the last two days on the carts, I have realized how important it is tailor the lesson to the group that is standing in front of the cart. If it is a group of elementary age children that walk up, the questions I ask them will be slightly different than if I am talking to a group of adults.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 91%
“…In each of the sites, teacher candidates spent a substantial number of hours engaged in teaching activities that allowed them to interact with diverse visitors. We learned that learning to teach afforded the following: (1) the opportunity to teach the same topic to different audiences over and over each time revising, refining, and testing strategies; (2) opportunities to try the same strategies on different and diverse learners thereby developing an intuitive understanding of what works for whom; (3) learning alongside museum staff and seeing different styles of teaching, different approaches, and borrowing strategies from these different experts; and (4) having opportunities for self‐reflection in between the instances of teaching allowing the candidate to identify areas of weakness and strengths and focusing on those each time the science experience is iterated (Gupta & Adams, ). From this work, we developed a standpoint that teacher candidates need to be supported to develop the awareness and associated practices that allow them to develop identities to create learning environments that position students at the center, invite relevant and engaging experiences, and account for issues of equity.…”
Informal science education institutions play an important in the public understanding of science and, because of this are well-positioned to positively impact science teacher education. Informal science institutions (ISIs) have a range of affordances that could contribute to learner-centered science teacher identity development. This article describes research from a clinical experience in a museum where teacher candidates engaged visitors in learning dialogs around objects on a moveable cart in an exhibit. We describe how working in informal settings and learning to use the affordances of that setting supports aspiring teachers to connect theory to practice in ways that developed Spielraum in that is studentcentered, responsive to the needs of learners, and allows for the imagination future selves and classrooms that are conducive to maintaining these identities. This research supports the critical role that ISIs could play in teacher education, especially during the clinical phase where teacher candidates are forming initial notions about their identities, about the self who teaches.
“…A succinct and theoretically grounded definition of reform‐minding science teacher identity is “the ways in which a teacher represents herself through her views, orientations, attitudes, emotions, understandings, and knowledge and beliefs about science teaching and learning (Avraamidou, , p. 826). This supports our standpoint and we add that informal science experiences provide teacher candidates with opportunities to facilitate hands‐on experiences with diverse audiences while developing student‐centered dispositions, sensitivities to diversity, and positive attitudes about STEM teaching and learning, all of which contribute to a reform‐minded science teacher identity (Gupta & Adams, ). A framework of identity allows us to think beyond what is learned and to focus on the learner as situated in the contexts within which she learns (Beauchamp & Thomas, ).…”
Section: Theoretical Framingsupporting
confidence: 80%
“…As articulated in earlier studies (Gupta & Adams, ), the theme of learning from working with diverse learners resonated with the candidates managing the carts in on the museum floor: During the last two days on the carts, I have realized how important it is tailor the lesson to the group that is standing in front of the cart. If it is a group of elementary age children that walk up, the questions I ask them will be slightly different than if I am talking to a group of adults.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 91%
“…In each of the sites, teacher candidates spent a substantial number of hours engaged in teaching activities that allowed them to interact with diverse visitors. We learned that learning to teach afforded the following: (1) the opportunity to teach the same topic to different audiences over and over each time revising, refining, and testing strategies; (2) opportunities to try the same strategies on different and diverse learners thereby developing an intuitive understanding of what works for whom; (3) learning alongside museum staff and seeing different styles of teaching, different approaches, and borrowing strategies from these different experts; and (4) having opportunities for self‐reflection in between the instances of teaching allowing the candidate to identify areas of weakness and strengths and focusing on those each time the science experience is iterated (Gupta & Adams, ). From this work, we developed a standpoint that teacher candidates need to be supported to develop the awareness and associated practices that allow them to develop identities to create learning environments that position students at the center, invite relevant and engaging experiences, and account for issues of equity.…”
Informal science education institutions play an important in the public understanding of science and, because of this are well-positioned to positively impact science teacher education. Informal science institutions (ISIs) have a range of affordances that could contribute to learner-centered science teacher identity development. This article describes research from a clinical experience in a museum where teacher candidates engaged visitors in learning dialogs around objects on a moveable cart in an exhibit. We describe how working in informal settings and learning to use the affordances of that setting supports aspiring teachers to connect theory to practice in ways that developed Spielraum in that is studentcentered, responsive to the needs of learners, and allows for the imagination future selves and classrooms that are conducive to maintaining these identities. This research supports the critical role that ISIs could play in teacher education, especially during the clinical phase where teacher candidates are forming initial notions about their identities, about the self who teaches.
“…Many studies have looked at unique aspects ISEs can offer teacher education programmes, such as learning in a low-stakes, supportive environment instruction and making connections with other STEM-rich institutions (Anderson, Lawson, & Mayer-Smith, 2006;Buczynski & Hansen, 2010;Çil, Maccario, & Yanmaz, 2016;Gupta & Adams, 2012;Setioko & Irving, 2017;Yu & Yang, 2010). ISEs can make use of their unique resources by leveraging them in their PD models and showing teachers how they can integrate them into their classroom curriculum (Holliday, Lederman, & Lederman, 2014;Phillips, Finkelstein, & Wever-Frerichs, 2007).…”
Section: Professional Development By Informal Education Institutionsmentioning
We present results of an experimental study of an urban, museumbased science teacher PD programme. A total of 125 teachers and 1676 of their students in grades 4-8 were tested at the beginning and end of the school year in which the PD programme took place. Teachers and students were assessed on subject content knowledge and attitudes towards science, along with teacher classroom behaviour. Subject content questions were mostly taken from standardised state tests and literature, with an 'Explain:' prompt added to some items. Teachers in the treatment group showed a 7% gain in subject content knowledge over the control group. Students of teachers in the treatment group showed a 4% gain in subject content knowledge over the control group on multiple-choice items and an 11% gain on the constructed response items. There was no overall change in science attitudes of teachers or students over the control groups but we did find differences in teachers' reported self-efficacy and teaching anxiety levels, plus PD teachers reported doing more student-centered science teaching activities than the control group. All teachers came into the PD with high initial excitement, perhaps reflecting its context within an informal learning environment.
“…Few studies exist describing university-museum collaborations for teacher preparation (Avraamidou, 2014) Studies such as Anderson et al (2006), Jung and Tonso (2006) and Wallace (2013) are examples of research involving pre-service teachers utilizing the informal sector as teacher training settings. These collaborations have the power to strengthen teacher education programs and provide context where 'theories about teaching and learning are merged with a novel, resource-rich environment' (Gupta & Adams, 2012, p. 1147. Recent studies indicate that learning to teach science in these settings has potential to influence pre-service teachers' understanding of the connection between conceptual knowledge and inquiry-based pedagogies (Wallace, 2013, p. 814).…”
The collaboration between Museum Victoria and ReMSTEP partners: the University of Melbourne and Deakin University has enabled the development of the Reconceptualising Rocks project, designed to enhance the teaching of Earth Science for pre-service Science teachers. This study sought to determine how perceptions and understandings of Earth Science can be enhanced through immersion in the contextual learning in the Museum. Furthermore, the project aimed to explore how science ideas and practices can be translated for educational purposes. The findings revealed that participants found Earth Science interesting and were able to identify links to other Science areas. These findings have implications for the teaching of Earth Science across the curriculum.
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